The Bottom Line
Small business is important to Central Oregon, and to Mid Oregon. Find tips and resources for business, and information about Mid Oregon’s commercial services and business members.
Share Insurance Protects Your Money
Safeguarding your hard-earned money is vitally important. That’s why Mid Oregon Credit Union has federal share insurance, administered by an independent government agency, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) protects aggregate savings up to at least $250,000 in your checking accounts, high yield accounts, certificates, regular share savings accounts, and Save to Win accounts. We want you to know that your share insurance protects your money
Coverage For Retirement Accounts
The coverage for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Keoghs is also $250,000. Funds in traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are added together and insured in the aggregate to $250,000. A Keogh account is insured separately up to $250,000 as well. It’s important to note that share insurance doesn’t cover investment products such as mutual funds and annuities.
More Than $250,000 In Coverage?
Ways To Increase Covered Something else about share insurance: It separately insures individual and joint accounts. For example, say you have an individual account containing $250,000, and a joint account with your spouse containing $250,000. Each account is insured separately for a total coverage of $500,000.
Insurance Administered Through NCUA
So how do you know we’re federally insured? All federally insured 
credit unions–like Mid Oregon-must post the official NCUA insurance sign in their offices. As do other NCUSIF-insured credit unions, we abide by high standards of safety and soundness. Because of that, NCUSIF is a strong, well-capitalized fund.
So, rest assured, your money is safe. You can count on Mid Oregon Credit Union to take good care of it.
Answers To Today’s Mortgage Questions
Mid Oregon’s Matt Mitchell Shares Perspective
Today’s home loan environment is anything but normal. In Central Oregon, our strong home sales and refinancing market has been subject to COVID-19 circumstances, economic uncertainty and job & income fluctuations. Mid Oregon Credit Union Mortgage Manager Matt Mitchell was asked about the impact on today’s lending environment. Below Matt provides answers to today’s mortgage questions.
Are Rates Going Up?
Rates continue to stay at historical lows; it is important to compare different lender’s rates. Lenders will fluctuate their rates on different products depending on their concentration and market demands for certain products. It is hard to say when rates will increase, but at some point in the future they will go up.
Is It Harder To Qualify For Home Loans?
Different Lenders and secondary market buyers have different requirements. We are seeing some approval tightening on Jumbo Loans and low member FICO credit scores paired with low down payment loans.
Are You Seeing a Lot of Forbearance Requests?
We are seeing some requests (Mortgage Payment Assistance) and as a credit union our position is aligned with helping our members. The whole industry has a much kinder and helping approach than it did during the recession. The process is much more borrower friendly and the response times are very fast. Most of the current plans do not require the borrower to become delinquent like they did during the recession.
What Advice Do You Have for Someone Not Able To Make Payments?
Contact your mortgage servicer right away and ask what programs they have available. Making the contact early gives the servicer time to assist you before the account becomes delinquent.
Remember that deferring payments does not stop the interest from adding on to the account. The deferred payments will change the whole structure of the loan and the interest will be due at payoff.
Is There a Lot of Unease In The Lending Market About Long-Term Impacts?
Uncertainty causes unease and there is plenty of uncertainty in the current economic market. Central Oregon has a couple of advantages: 1. The location is very desirable. 2. The inventory of houses on the market is limited. There may also be an increase in demand because people want to move out of big cities.
Nationally, Mortgage Applications Are Trending Up. Are You Seeing That Locally?
Yes, we have seen an increase in refinance applications. Obviously there has also been a decrease in purchase applications. Lenders are hiring additional staffing to keep up with the increased requests.
Are There Any Other Positive Or Negative Signs You Are Seeing On The Lending Side Of Things?
The increased demand & the virus have both put pressure on the appraisal industry. This has driven up appraisal prices and increased the time for delivery. On the positive side lenders have been working on their processes to become more streamlined electronically. This will have a positive impact by making things easier.
New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
Construction Begins On New Sisters Location for Mid Oregon
We are excited to announce that Mid Oregon Credit Union recently began construction of a new full-service branch location in Sisters. While we have a current branch at 703 N. Larch Street, we are pleased to begin work on our new Sisters location for Mid Oregon.
Branch in Shopping Center With Ray’s Food Place
The new branch will be located at 650 N. Arrowleaf Trail, between the McDonald’s and the St. Charles Family Care Clinic on Highway 20. Once the branch is completed, it will replace Mid Oregon’s current leased location on Larch Street across from the Sisters Post Office.
The new building has received the necessary approvals, with construction currently underway at the site. The 3,500 sq. ft. building has an expected opening date near the end of 2020. The branch will include a drive-up lane with ATM and teller services, as well as a full array of loan and deposit services inside.
Improved Access For Sisters’ Businesses and Residents
“We’re excited to continue our great relationship with the Sisters community and expand our services for local residents and visitors,” says Maureen Rogers, Mid Oregon’s Chief Risk Officer. “We believe our new location will provide improved access for the local residents who shop, work, and conduct business nearby.”
Outgrowing Current Sisters Location
The current Sisters location opened in March of 2017 with a staff of three, and with a drive-up ATM. Mid Oregon anticipates adding staff at the new location to accommodate additional branch capacity.